The Girl Guides Association of Thailand (Bangkok)

This entry is dedicated to Diana Teo of Travel & Living Journal of DT. 

I walked past this area a million times and never once I noticed this building. Perhaps I was focusing (rushing) on the shop(ping) or time. Either way, I overlooked this small building every time.

But somehow, that particular day I decided to look down, not see but look - really look.

That is when I notice that it is The Girl Guides Association of Thailand headquarter, and yes; Diana was the first thing came to my mind. I immediately look for the next staircase down.

You see, I always read Diana tweeting about her girl guide activities (and she is one of the committee in Girl Guides Association of Sabah, don't play play [popular blogger too]) and being a girl guide myself (was), I have the highest respect for her and the fact that she continues being active even after school (unlike me).

And while in Bangkok for the umpteenth time, I was wondering to myself; what to get this lady - postcards (overated - from me/Bangkok)? Journal/diary (bought that on previous trip - forgot to post)? Food (ship all the way to Kota Kinabalu? Aiyooo)? Magnets (too many of Bangkok/Thailand probably)?

Then it hit me, this is a sign!!! I must go in and get her something from Girl Guides Association of Thailand, well... at least a badge or something.
 

Picture taken via iPhone; to excited, didn't realised it is shaky.

Guess which one I got for her?

I was in Sunflower Patrol. I think.

Kind and motherly looking heh.

Guess what? The door was locked, obviously I got panic as it was my second last day in Bangkok and the next day in a Saturday, they might be close on weekends. Yet... yet I see guiders inside, and I start circling the building (yup, I did that. Kiasu right) and found out that they close the main doors and the entrance is only from back door. Ahhhh...... Phew!

Pushed the door open, took off my shoes, tip-toed to the shop quietly like a mouse. Not sure why I need to do that, not like I am going to rob the shop, hahahahaha.....

I asked (in English) on whether I can purchase any of the stuff, they said yes and looked at me curiously. The lady asked where was I from, I said "Malaysia and I use to be a girl guide too (the need to point it out and show off - drama Lily!)". Continued "I want to get something for a friend, she is still very active in girl guide". The friendly guider asked whether I was from Kuala Lumpur and I said yes, told her that my friend is from Kota Kinabalu (macam ler dia tahu kat mana). Then I said Kota Kinabalu is in Sabah, located in Borneo; "ahhhhhhh..... Borneo!", that got their attention alright :)

I took 20mins or so choosing the stuff and requested to snap a few photos. Permission granted.

Lord Baden-Powell and Olave, Lady Baden-Powell.

It has been long since I last visited Kuala Lumpur headquarters, maybe I should just...

Those that wishes to drop by, take note of the opening time.

Diana is also an avid travel blogger (the kindest and sweetest) and always remember to send me a postcard *hint hint wink*, I managed to get her 2 souvenirs from here (kinda proud moment), take a guess what are they. Muahhahahhahaah... *evil laugh*.

For those who wanted to drop by, it is located near (1 min walk) the Victory monumemt BTS Station (walk towards the monument itself).

#Thailand | #Saraburi Sunflower Fields (Lopburi)

This trip to #Saraburi / #Lopburi is the scariest, dangerous and almost disappointing trip I've ever made in Thailand.

Some of you might have received a postcard from me mentioning what happened, the rest would need to either read it from my blog or wait for my tweets. 

I will try to make this as simple, as short and as sweet as possible (hemmm.. perhaps I shall make it in point form [kan tengah mode malas]).

Once upon a time....(yeah right...)

We were approached by a tuk-tuk driver as we arrived at Ayutthaya train station (will blog later on how to get to Ayutthaya) offering tour packages by hour/day/destination/bla bla bla... we insisted that we ONLY need a ride to our guesthouse and that we will 'take care' of our sightseeing trip ourselves (of which we have almost no plan whatsoever, well... maybe a tiny bit of planning was done).

As we arrived at the guesthouse, he parked his tuk-tuk outside (rasa cam blackmail lak) and offered us (again) the packages hence we decided to ask whether he can take us to #Saraburi or #Lopburi (since he is so persistent). He said ok and the ride will take us approximately 1.5hrs and B1000. OK! Looks good and reasonable too, pickup time at 8am next day, hemm.... perfect.

Everything went perfectly well, seriously! Perfect scenery, great friends and a little bit of a bumpy ride but nothing chatty us can't take (I mean, after all, we are a rough and tough ex-girl guide right [konon]?).

The ride went on and on and on and on..... and on. At a point we almost ran out of topic to talk (betul tau!). 1.5 hrs later.... Erk! Still no sunflower. I beginning to get worried.... like, REALLY WORRIED (note the capslock). Just then, we start seeing fields of sunflowers... panic mode gone but this was not the one I went few years back! They had elephant ride too, really.... ELEPHANT. Don't believe me? Check out my old entry HERE.

As we hunt for the 'right' sunflower field, we saw a police roadblock and our tuk-tuk driver pulled to the side few hundred meters before it. We wondered why, all kind of assumption came to mind.... (risau, risau, risau). After about 5-8 mins, he then did a u-turn... and as we guessed, the police car chased us. Drama dak my trip?!??!

The police ask us to pull over, checked out passport (nasib baik bawak!) and talked to our young driver... (lama jugak, warning kot). Apparently, a tuk-uk cannot cross-over a few district (I think we crossed 2-3 districts kot - ignorant us!)..... ahhhhh.... those who is planning to do this, please DO NOT TRY and immediately abandon this idea okay! Over adventurous lak...

As we reached Saraburi (I skipped the dam story as it was not that interesting), the locals said due to weather and what not; the sunflowers have been harvested last week. so NADA, ELEKPOCHIK, HABIS, NO sunflowers. Disappointing right? RIGHT? Marah tak?!??!

As we were too tired after the 2 hours of long and bumpy ride, we decided to give up. Sumpah, tak tipu!

We told the driver to let's turn back, and if... IF we see any sunflower field by the roadside, he should just stop and we shall settle for it, no matter how small. Guess what we found....

View more pic in : https://www.facebook.com/lilyrianitravelholic

Happy!

Ayutthaya Kingdom, Thailand - UNESCO

Pure laziness, no excuses whatsoever.

What is wrong with my November? Am moving so slow that the snail said "Catch me if you can! Hahhahah..." (malu).

Well, one thing for sure... Guns N' Roses were right on November, it Rained and Rained and will continue to Rain. Malaysia is sooooo gloomy nowadays that it feels like London (ceh wah... giler perasan tak ingat dunia).

OK, back to my entry.
Last week was the first time I went on a trip with GG (Girl Guide/secondary school mate). After months of planning which I failed successfully (aside from booking the accommodation), we finally embarked on our maiden voyage (DRAMA!!!) to Bangkok and Ayutthaya Kingdom (hey! How do one actually spell this? Ayuthayya or Ayutthaya or Ayuthaya or Ayudhya or or or.... ok, whatever lah). Main objectives for us girls were sunflower field, shopping and massage. Easy easy!

Anyways, let's check out the places we visited on the day we arrived in Ayutthaya (yeah! yeah! Sunflower entry next round yek). Will explain my mode of transportation at the end of this entry.

1. Wat Yai ChaiMongkhon (Great Monastery of Auspicious Victory)

I was searching for wikipedia so that lazy me can cut and paste the whole info - none available. Sigh....

Since I have been here before, I told ML that she can see sitting buddha statues circling the whole rectangular gallery encircling the principal chedi. Uncreative me decided to use the same function as previous trip - colour accent (Canon s95). Boring!

2. Wat Maha That or the (Monastery of the Great Relic)
I missed this one during my last trip, so it's a must-visit place for me this time around. It kinda represent Ayutthaya (tak sah pegi Ayutthaya if tak gi sini, kira cam tuh lar); signature, landmark, icon.

Hem... This is the part why I like to hire a tour guide I guess, they will be able to explain in detail PLUS I can ask all my nonsense questions.

The middle pic is abit err.... don't think it's doable. Hehheheh....

Chedi in situ

The gallery or Rabieng Khot

The famous Wat Maha That

3. Wat Chai Watthanaram (Monastery of the Victorious and Prosperous Temple)
This is the prettiest, cleanest and most mesmerizing temple in Ayutthaya (to me lar..). It's pretty big unfortunately they don't allow public to roam inside this complex. Sigh... I wish I could just sneak inside and wander around. Mysterious heh!



4. Wat Phu Khao Thong (Monastery of the Golden Mount)
The further (?!) and quietest temple, nothing much to see here but since it's free, we figure 'why not' right?!

That's the only temple we opted and it took us 5 hours, of cause we all 'terhegeh-hegeh' alot lar kan... hehehhehe...

Random. This is their take-away coconut drink/air kelapa bungkus. Canggih right.

Mode of transportation :
We chartered (pau) the tuk-tuk for 5 hours at B200 p/hour. The total came up to B1000 which we split by 5pax (RM20 or USD7 p/pax). Kinda reasonable I thought.

They will suggest close to 10 attactions (or more, perhaps) for you to visit within the hours that you've agreed (we extended our's obviously) and they will be able to inform you which attractions require entrance fee (and how much it cost) and which one is free. They will encourage you to visit the free ones of cause *wink*, not to worry yah.

Aside from tuk-tuk, you can also either hire and bicycle or motorbike.

Teaser | Ayuthayya Kingdom and Lopburi Sunflower

A teaser before my Tuesday entry.